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Originally Posted by Arkantos
The current system isn't perfect, but I prefer it over the old one.
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But ANet hasn't just changed the system. We now have "workarounds" that would alleviate player discontent, namely the scrolls and unlimited district switching. Scroll cost may be prohibitive, but people forget that they are a guaranteed drop from the end chest after clearing FoW and UW,
in addition to being a random drop. What's more, the whole team gets one after a clear, which is probably the reason I can't remember the last time I spent actual gold on the entry fee, or was asked to contribute.
The problem, though, is that unlimited district switching makes the old favor system largely irrelevant. Not having to wait for content is good, of course, but waiting for FoW/UW access was precisely what fostered the sense of camaraderie in Temple of the Ages. With everyone able to just hop on over to the winning boat, HA will remain only as relevant to a PvE player as all other PvP - which is to say, the PvE player will only notice it when some skills get nerfed because of PvP (ab)use.
People want the old system back because winning and holding Halls used to mean something. Specifically,
it was the only way to leave your mark on the game world. Factions attempted to capitalize on this specific player base with the town control system, but rewards there were neither as direct (one fight instead of countless AB fights) nor as immediate (one win streak instead of constant donations) as in HA, and even worse with respect to the challenge missions. ANet has opted to "compensate" the HA players with exclusive chest drops, but that apparently isn't what they're after. Until and unless ANet gets a clue and designs a "game world impact" reward system that is as good as the original favor one, people will not be satisfied.
At this point, changing the favor back won't do anything for the Halls. With unlimited district switching, the "game impact" of winning Halls will be only minimally higher than it is now. This, just like too many other things in Guild Wars, now boils down to vanity, and while improving accessibility does allow the game to be enjoyed by more people, it needs to be paired with "meaningful" reward systems for the... "more discerning" players. Otherwise, people will end up jaded - "Nothing really matters, so what's the point?" - and quit, hurting the game in the long run.